BELAGAVI: Farmers of the district who were cheated in the ‘Kadaknath poultry scam’ registered a complaint at Islampur Police Station here on Saturday.
As many as 277 farmers from the taluk have claimed that they were cheated to the tune of Rs 2.67 crore. Another 350 farmers from other taluks and districts will lodge a complaint shortly.
Farmers led by Mahesh Patil of Yalebail village, in the complaint submitted to Islampur Inspector Narayan Deshmukh mentioned that Sudheer Shankar Mohite and Sandeep Subhash Mohite, both residents of Islampur, Maharashtra, of Maharayat Agro Company Ltd cheated farmers across Maharashtra and Karnataka.
They lured the farmers with offers of a huge profit in Kadaknath Poultry, a supportive business to agriculture. They gained confidence of the farmers by giving colourful “false” advertisements. The 277 farmers of the taluk are said to have invested Rs 2.68 crore in the company after signing an agreement by which they would be given Kadaknath chicks to breed, and they company would buy them back after six months at a high price.
However, the management shut down after collecting money from the farmers, they alleged. Farmers who invested lakhs of rupees are in “big” trouble as they invested by taking loans. Police should arrest members of the company and help refund investments of the farmers by auctioning their properties, they urged in the complaint. Rakesh Malavade, a farmer told The New Sunday Express, “Since this issue has also been discussed in the Maharashtra Assembly, the government should intervene and help the farmers get back their hard-earned money.”